Along with several other ministers, he was arrested during the coup when rebel soldiers stormed the presidential palace on 22 March 2012.[2] On 25 March, he began a hunger strike along with 13 other arrested officials to protest his detention.[3]

After Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta won the 2013 presidential election, Maïga was appointed to the government as Minister of Defense on 8 September 2013.[4] He was replaced by Ba N'Dao following the army's defeat at the hands of Tuareg rebels in Kidal in May 2014. Although some blamed him for the defeat, others believed he was being used as a scapegoat.[5]